Filipinas hoping for better life find exploitation instead

Asia News Network/The Straits Times ^ | 2005-02-07 | Luz Baguioro

[nickcarraway]

They thought becoming mail-order brides to South Koreans was their ticket to an affluent and comfortable life.

The video shown to them by the broker featured smiling Filipino-Korean couples on their wedding day and ostensibly living in marital bliss in South Korea.

But little did they know that a few months after the lavish weddings, the women would be divorced and forced to work in nightclubs or factories just to survive.

'It's sexual exploitation and they are using the marriage, which turns out to be fake, to exploit our women,' said Mr Romulo Asis, head of the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) Anti-Human Trafficking Division.

He estimates that more than 200 women in the Philippines were victimised in the past two years by syndicates luring them to become mail-order brides to South Koreans.

'It's a huge problem that is difficult to crack because, for many poor Filipinos, marrying a foreigner is the short cut to going abroad and, hopefully, getting rich,' said Mr Asis.

An NBI probe found that syndicates send agents to the provinces to con women into entering into arranged marriages with South Koreans.

An agent earns 10,000 pesos (S$300) for every recruit who is 'married'.

Agents also post advertisements in local tabloids, enticing women to marry South Koreans with promises of a comfortable life.

Working with the agents' contacts in South Korea, the Filipinas are matched with prospective South Korean husbands, who are mostly farmers, truck drivers and other blue-collar workers.

The South Koreans pose as businessmen and members of the Unification Church, or 'Moonies', said Mr Rey Conferido, the Philippines' labour attache in South Korea for the past three years.

'There is no more courtship. The mass weddings take place a day after the South Koreans arrive in Manila or sometimes on the day of their arrival,' he said.

The Filipina mail-order brides are provided wedding gowns and shopping money, while their parents get cash gifts of 20,000 pesos.

'Some of these women were promised marriage and were made to believe they were engaged to these South Koreans. Apparently, it was just a ploy so these South Koreans could exploit them sexually for a week or two,' Mr Asis said.

Widespread poverty in the Philippines is only one reason why this problem has continued for years, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Aladdin Villacorte said.

Unlike in the Philippines, where the mail-order bride business was made illegal in the 1990s, South Korean laws regard matchmaking as a legitimate trade.

'South Korean men can go to any marriage broker, and there are hundreds, and pay a minimum of US$500 (S$800) to search for a prospective spouse for them,' he said.

'It is unfortunate that many of our women, because of poverty and their desire for a better life, fall for this.'

Many of the victims are in their 20s and are only high school graduates.

Although many of them have sought help from the Philippine Embassy in Seoul and returned to the Philippines, others have opted to stay in South Korea to work.

'We have not seen an end to this problem, partly because complainants lose their resolve to pursue the case once they return to the Philippines,' Mr Conferido said.

[adam_az]

This article doesn't make much sense...?

[GOP_1900AD]

I'm sorry, but it is sad how naive the impacted Filipinas appear to be. What were they thinking, going for mail order marriage with other Asians? What did they expect? Even mail ordering to non Asians would be risky, but at least there would be a chance for respect there.

[MadJack]

I'm TDY at Camp Casey for a couple of weeks and have been amazed by the number of Filipinas around here. I understand they have all but replaced the locals in the clubs of Combat Alley. (But have not gone to check, dear. I swear.)
Encountered several of them while around the PX the other day. Our driver, a Spec 4, was telling me he's engaged to one, so I guess at least some of them have set their sites higher than this article implies.